Gibson Fab 5 Top Cold and Flu Comfort Measures

As cold and flu season approaches, arm yourself with the Gibson Fab 5 Cold and Flu Comfort Measures!  I'm not going to tell you anything you don't likely already know, but life gets pretty busy and sometimes we need a reminder to take good care of ourselves! These are our family's tried and true comfort measures.

1. Get ample rest.  Busy schedules, deadlines, commitments and holidays often leave us feeling depleted and more susceptible to illness.  Try to "under schedule" yourself every once and awhile and catch up on some much needed rest before you need a reason to!

2. Drink lots of fluids.  Our favourites:
Warm ginger tea with honey.  Honey and ginger are both anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial (read all about ginger's superpowers here). Simply grate about a tablespoon of fresh ginger root and steep in a mug of hot water for about 10-15 minutes until well infused. Strain out the ginger and add a generous spoonful of raw honey.  The warm liquid is soothing on your throat and the ginger is wonderful for clearing the sinuses. And,
chicken soup.  You can find our family favourite in a previous post here.

3. Gargle with salt water.  Add about 1/2 a teaspoon of salt to a mug of warm water and gargle to ease the discomfort of a sore throat and flush away nasty bacteria! Not just an old-wives tale!  At first sign of a cough or cold, we gargle 3-4 times a day. Read on for some scientific cred!

4. Honey-ginger Elixir.
Hands down better than any commercial cough syrup on the market!  All natural and chock-full of antiviral, immune boosting properties!
Grate about two tablespoons of ginger root and squeeze out the juice using a small mesh strainer.  Whisk in an equal amount of raw honey and mix until well combined.  Take a big spoonful at bed time to quiet a stubborn night time cough.  Take liberally throughout the day to soothe a sore throat and reap all the heath-promoting benefits the honey and ginger provide. I make this up in small batches (double if we all are under the weather!) and leave sitting out on the counter.  I'm not sure how long it lasts in larger amounts as we use it up before the day is through.

5. Vapor Rub.
I know, I get it.  Make-your-own vapor rub seems lofty, but if you have ever had aspirations to achieve Martha-like status, this is it!  A truly simple recipe to follow.  Three ingredients: coconut oil, beeswax and essential oils.  That's it.  It's natural and smells fantastic and it works (again in my opinion) better than anything store-bought!
You can find the original recipe here.  In my search for a vapor rub recipe, many others used a higher concentration of oils than the Wellness Mama version; for example this recipe here.  I have doubled the amount of essential oils with no ill effects for our family, but always check with your health practitioner before using any essential oils, especially on babies, or children, or if you are pregnant or breastfeeding.
This recipe is not suitable for very young children or babies.
Quite simply:
Spoon a 1/2 cup of coconut oil and 2 level tablespoons of beeswax pastilles in a mason jar or other heat tolerant glass container.  Place your jar in a pot of water (the water level should be about half to three quarters of the way up the side of the jar).  Be careful not to splash any water into your jar. Bring the water to a gentle simmer and stir your ingredients just until melted.  Remove from the heat.
Add 40 drops of eucalyptus essential oil, 40 drops of peppermint essential oil, 20 drops of rosemary essential oil and 20 drops of clove essential oil.  Stir to combine and pour into clean, preferably dark glass jars, but any clean glass jar will do.
Apply as needed to chest and neck for relief of cough and congestion.